


Disappear

by FireDragon1321



Series: Fanfic of Other Fanfic [3]
Category: Super Mario & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Apparently if You Turn Young Link into a Princess Fourteen Zelda Games Never Happened, Blindness, BoTW’s Spot in the Timeline is Confusing so I Put it in the Link Beats Ganon Category, Crossdressing, Crying, Disclaimer in Note, Don't Lynch Me, Enforcement of Gender Roles, Except for the Vomit, Fading from Reality, Fading from existence, Gen, It's Kind of Weird Though, Major Character Death is Graphic and Slow but not Gory, Men Crying, OOC!Peach, Offscreen Brainwashing, Senses Disappearing, Sick Character, Time Travel, Time-y Wime-y Fun, Unless You're Peach the it's a Totally Happy Ending, Vomiting, brainwashing aftermath, illlness, no happy ending, wow that got dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:26:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21784417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireDragon1321/pseuds/FireDragon1321
Summary: Once upon a time, a princess was born and a hero disappeared.I found a story on dA that made Young Link into a princess (specifically Peach’s daughter) and my brain went “Great but what happens to older Link/the complicated timeline?”. Then I wrote this. And it’s pretty dark.PLEASE READ THE TAGS AND NOTE IN THE NAME OF SHIGERU MIYAMOTO (who probably hates me).
Series: Fanfic of Other Fanfic [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1197139
Kudos: 3





	Disappear

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Peach's Little Princess](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/542152) by J13579. 



> So- as mentioned- I had some thoughts about older Link when reading a story about Young Link. Namely- “what happens to him if Young Link gives up on being a hero?”. And also- “what happens to the Zelda timeline?”. The answer was this. But, uh, it gets weirder.  
> DISCLAIMER: This was inspired by a feminization story on dA, so there’s mentions of tropes from those. But they’re relatively minor, as this is more about the impact on the Zelda universe’s very complex timeline. So if you think that this story is a jab at trans people/you, it’s not. It’s a jab at stories that take cis male characters and forcibly make them female (trans, cis, or just a crossdresser, depends on the story) without thinking of the consequences (this would be about 99% of them).  
> All characters belong to their original creators. I'm sorry, Nintendo. Except kinda not. Consider this story "punishment" for teasing the Internet with the last Fighter's Pass character at the Game Awards and then telling us that the "Nintendo Switch has Games". Although this story was written before then, but still. *insert clown meme here*  
> Also- sorry for "calling out" the story that inspired this, but unfortunately, I have to give credit. That's how A03 works.

Link panted as he rampaged down the hall. His chest hurt. His lungs and heart were working overtime to fuel his body- no, his very existence. He felt like he was drifting apart bit by bit. His body felt like it was dissolving like a sugar cube in water, and he wasn’t sure why. 

It all began with a note given to him by a frightened-looking man dressed in green. Apparently, the princess of their kingdom went mad and they needed help. The note was found in the princess’s chambers, detailing a plan to take in some boy as her daughter. That seemed like a typo, but- reading the plot in its entirety- it wasn’t. This princess seemed determined to make this little boy into a little girl- if not in body, then in mind. It was weird, sure, but the weirdest part was the boy’s description.

It was him. At least, it was him when he left the Kokiri Forest as a child. It was surprising, but Link wasn’t sure what that boy had to do with the pain in his chest. How could altering this boy effect him? At the time, Link cheerfully accepted the summons for help in order to to get answers, but now he was having second thoughts.

His vision was starting to turn spotty as he navigated the pretty pink halls of the castle. The only real guards were tiny mushroom men, who seemed rather low on smarts and posed no real threat. Link was thankful for that. He wasn’t in peak fighting condition.

Resting behind a pillar, Link took deep lungfuls of air. It was like he was underwater, struggling to avoid drowning. Maybe he should just retreat for now and come back when he felt better. Link shook his head. Something in his gut told him he wouldn’t feel better until he resolved this odd situation.

Stand up. In his head, it was a command, roared with great authority. In reality, he could only let out a pathetic squeak and slide to the floor. Pushing on the pillar, he forced himself to his feet. One step. Two steps. He took step after shaky step down the hall. Yes, this was good. He could still walk. He’d probably be able to overpower the crazy princess even in his current condition.

With dark spots swimming in his vision, it was hard for Link to navigate. He didn’t see the little mushroom man round the corner until it was too late.

“Intruder!” the mushroom cried out.

Link unsheathed the Master Sword, ready for the creature to summon a much stronger, scarier creature or unleash a surprise attack of his own. However, the mushroom man just shrieked and ran away. Link tilted his head, but didn’t put the sword back in its sheath. Even if the creature was frightened of him, he was still probably going to go get help. Link had to get out of there- fast.

Link ran down the hall, which turned out to be a harder endeavor than walking. His swimming vision and difficulty breathing teamed up to make it hard for him to figure out where he was going. Naturally, he tripped. The Master Sword went flying out of his hand and landed a decent distance away. As for Link himself, he face-planted on the floor, grateful that every hall was lined with plush pink carpet.

Link screamed as the sensation of being dissolved increased. Pink smoke floated from not just the Master Sword a few feet away, but Link himself. He clutched at his chest to find that it wasn’t there. Or maybe it was. It kept fading in and out of existence. The sensation was unnerving. Link felt like he had to vomit, but something told him not to. Not on the pretty pink carpet. Eventually, his stomach won the battle, and he puked all over the carpet, soiling it beyond repair.

Link crawled away from the rancid smell- for he couldn’t clearly see the stain- and figured he should just grab the Master Sword and get out of the castle. He’d try again when he felt better. Staying on all fours like a dog, Link went towards his blade. It was that way, right? Or that way? Link was so disoriented that left was right and right was left.

Link heard footsteps and groaned. It was probably the mushroom man, or maybe something worse, since the footsteps were heavy. Yea, definitely something worse. He just had to reach the Master Sword, and it would be fine. Unfortunately, his legs turned to jelly, and he was left pulling himself along on his arms. He patted the carpet, trying to find the sword of evil’s bane. He instead found his own vomit, squishy and sour-smelling. He couldn’t help but gag and nearly throw up again, but there was nothing left inside him to throw up.

The spots in his vision turned thicker and thicker until they consumed it entirely. Link closed his eyes, opened them again, and cried out in despair. His sense of sight was totally gone. Even worse, the vomit was less rancid-smelling and the footsteps were muffled. The carpet felt less real, like he wasn’t part of the same universe at it any more. 

Forget the Master Sword. Link wanted to lie down despite the incoming danger, but he didn’t want to lie in his own vomit. Crawling a bit away, he flopped down, thankfully avoiding it. He curled in on himself and gasped in pure agony. Every breath made his bones pop. He had no idea what the exact cause was, but he knew he was going to die. He couldn’t even get his sword, so what chance did he have of getting out of the castle and finding a doctor? Mostly, it was infuriating. He survived monsters up to and including Ganondorf, and now he was going to die for no real reason.

The footsteps stopped in front of him, or what might have been “in front of him”. Link wasn’t really sure. He was everywhere and nowhere. A hand gently clasped his. Link felt the contact for a brief moment, but then lost the ability to feel. No sensation came from the hand or carpet. Link grunted in a feeble attempt to ask for help. He wasn’t sure if he was even heard. He couldn’t hear anymore.

Link groaned as his thoughts started to dwindle. He didn’t know what he was afflicted with, but he could feel in his heart that this was the final stage. He could have been lifted up, but he wasn’t certain. All at once, it happened. He finally burst. It wasn’t a gory, meaty kind of burst. It was like he became air, vaporized into nothingness. He couldn’t pinpoint where his body was in space, or even time.

Link found it rather odd that he left time itself. It was the last thing he ever thought.

=======================================

The very next day, there was a grand event. Princess Peach wished to show her new daughter to the world. All the Toads in the Mushroom Kingdom arrived, cheering as the girl made her first public appearance. There wasn’t a single frown or tear in the crowd.

Outside of the crowd, it was a different story.

Huddled behind a bush, watching from afar, was Link. Well, “a Link” would be more precise, wearing a grey hood and blue clothing instead of the more iconic green tunic. He was one of many Links, and he couldn’t even save himself. 

When he found that other Link lying on the floor in the castle, desperately clinging to life, he tried to help him escape. He took his hand, hoisted him up, and prepared to leave when he felt nothing on his back. Turning around, he found the other Link was gone, dissolved into pink smoke. The Master Sword and even a suspicious puddle of vomit on the floor also vanished. It was like they never existed.

A curious occurrence to most others was not so to this Link. He was special, one could say, unlike other Links. He wasn’t like the many Links from the main timelines, but from a strange, unique timeline. He retreated into his hood, stifling tears. In his head, a thousand stories danced around- all altered forever in such a disastrous way.

Princess Peach’s “daughter” was- unknown to all present but him and the princess herself- the child Link who left the Kokiri Forest one fateful day. The princess had been somewhat unstable for a while now, but the heroes of this realm weren’t aware of how much until now. The princess felt bad for the boy, who had to fight beasts and take on responsibilities that were too much for any child. Thus, Peach took the boy in, but as her daughter, changing the very way he thought to suit her needs.

This was all well and good for the Mushroom Kingdom, but one young woman’s childish fantasy caused disastrous damage to the timeline that young boy was connected to. The hooded Link knew why his twin was gone. He was gone because he never existed. As a delicate princess, the child Link never gathered the three Spiritual Stones and found the Master Sword, which meant that he never slept those seven years. The Link that defeated Ganondorf never existed. Without a hero to stop him, the Gerudo king had the chance to take Hyrule and keep it under his power indefinitely- with or without the Triforce.

But that was not even the worst of it. Many more Links suffered the same horrific fate, vanishing from time. If Link never attempted to challenge Ganondorf and fail, then seven Links would never have been born. But if Link succeeded, then the disaster would have been worse. Seven Links would be gone, and- on top of that- the entire realm of Termina would have been crushed under the weight of the moon. The outcome of that fateful battle wouldn’t have mattered because it would have never happened. In many worlds, darkness would reign eternal.

The hooded Link didn’t want to think about it any more. He was too soft-hearted to think of such things without crying. But telling oneself not to think of something only makes them think of it more, and he was soon bawling into his hood. He unfortunately happened to be a messy crier- the kind who had tears and snot dribble down his face once he really got going. The Toads were too caught up in their celebration to hear his sobs and find him, and he was thankful for that. Explaining this whole mess would have been so awkward.

There was still hope. Well, sort of. There were timelines upon timelines, realities upon realities. Those would be fine. The boy from the Kokiri Forest would not ever get a letter from the Mushroom Kingdom in any of those, and would not ever be escorted through dimensions to have that fateful meeting with the princess. The hooded Link wasn’t sure how that boy’s older self managed to arrive here- perhaps through another wrinkle in time. It didn’t matter. Fourteen realms existed, and- in almost all of those realms- Ganon or some other evil force was probably the undisputed ruler. The remaining realm was merely a crater.

As the celebration wound on, the hooded Link turned away, drying his eyes. He spent enough time fooling around here, and the brainwashing of the child Link was so thorough and complete that he couldn’t really do anything, anyway. All he could do was tell himself that- at the very least- the specter of the child’s future hadn’t died alone.

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT 1/26/19- That awkward feel when you're just messing around and you find out that the person who inspired your deconstrcutive darkfic is on a03. I am leaving the old link though. But that is weird haha.  
> (Plz don't kill me for writing a thing. Unless you're Nintendo- then you have the right to murder me repeatedly.)


End file.
